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A conversation between Rusty Wade and OOIDA about this collectivization issue!
Posted on Wednesday, December 02 @ 15:34:54 CST by willroge |
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Well, a friend of mine ( Rusty Wade) sent my little article to his organization OOIDA ! They responded promptly, and he sent me copies of 2 emails from them that I think should be posted here.
From the second email, Rusty,
Feel free to post my response to your website. You are not the first person I’ve heard from wondering “where is OOIDA on this?” As much as we do communicate positions on issues – like this one, unless someone happens to read that days particular story, hear the particular radio segment we’ve done…etc, it can be easy to miss.
Having received permission, let me continue with a quote of the entire first email from Joe Rajkovacz Regulatory Affairs Specialist to Rusty Wade. ( see extended text for entire quote and discussion of contents!)
Rusty sent OOIDA an email that contained;
Re: Where is OOIDA on this issue? Why is no one discussing this forced collectivization of independent truckers into company drivers and the massive amount of government aid these BIG COMPANIES are getting including the job retraining scam grants?
Rusty,
In response;
The Association has been VERY active in both Los Angeles and Sacramento on this issue. Land Line (radio and print) have had innumerable articles/pieces concerning this issue. I personally testified many times in both locations and the Association has filed numerous comments with all the agencies involved. OOIDA became an intervener with the Federal Maritime Commission against both ports. Because of what happened in LA-Long Beach, we actually initiated a project at the ports in Hampton Roads, Virginia to counter what was occurring out west and offer an alternative model to port drayage that is sustainable for everyone – owner-operators included. OOIDA has over 800 members working out of the Port of Virginia and it’s a fantastic test-bed for alternative solutions to real problems these folks do face to their continued economic viability. Check it out: http://www.oocva.org/ . The Port of Long Beach has ceased all efforts at demanding drivers become employees of motor carriers. The Port of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, organized labor and the environmentalists have all taken their game to Washington DC seeking changes in the language to the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAA) which prohibits any regulation of interstate trucking – because they have been checkmated by industry. They won’t be successful and its precisely because of what OOIDA has been accomplishing “behind the scenes.” Many Capitol Hill Democrats don’t have the stomach to turn back the clock to a regulated era. There are certainly supporters of doing exactly that but they are not anywhere near to be a majority necessary to make the needed FAAA language changes and more importantly – they don’t have the “ear” of the requisite committee chairs. The issue of subsidizing big motor carriers business model is another story. We’ve have been highly critical of this practice because they’re essentially creating a lease purchase/company store business model where a truck is handed to drivers with zero opportunity of ownership and little control over business decisions. That is still a work in progress (I have stacks of paper from members in LA who have been essentially forced into signing this crap) and we’re working through DC based retail coalitions to reign in this practice. Just last month I spent a week in southern California with the Spirit doing outreach to the local drayage driver community – down on the ports. It is possible that in January a summit will be held between driver/organizers from LA-LB, New York/New Jersey, Miami, and Norfolk. I am having the conversation at this very moment. This assault on owner-operators serving the ports cannot be positively resolved unless the affected drivers themselves make a concerted effort to get involved in the process. The LA Times article you were referencing quotes folks (National Port Drivers Association) that are relatively new on the block but we have access to. It’s taken a long time for drivers to coalesce into a political force to begin responding to the attacks on them from organized labor, environmentalist and their political allies. OOIDA has a lot of tools in our arsenal but the KEY tool is having guys “on the ground” in the affected ports and that is exactly what we’ve been working to create. This is a highly convoluted process that is unfolding. We have been engaged and you’ve got to remember that what you read about this in certain newspapers (like the LA Times) is not quite descriptive of what is actually playing out. I personally think it’s because there is almost an institutional laziness in news reporting anymore about actually “getting a story right”. With personnel and budget cuts in major media, they only seem to scratch the surface of what is really going on and do their readers a great disservice by not fully informing them of all the intricacies involved in every story. Regards, Joe Rajkovacz Regulatory Affairs Specialist Executive Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn., Inc. 800-444-5791
In my original post I copied from the newspapers the following...from the L A Times; Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said this is why the plan calls for requiring independent drivers who work out of the Port of Los Angeles to join trucking companies that could cover such expenses.
and also; ," Baker said. " That’s the reason why our program includes licensed motor carriers, who have more capital and the ability to turn over their trucking fleets." from the Daily Breeze, and; The program in Los Angeles has three elements: incentives and fees for clean trucks, a requirement that trucks operating at its port be owned by companies, not by individual drivers, and creating community-friendly provisions for areas near the port. From the same source. I have grave doubts that the millions being spent on "retraining employees" will not be used to provide the mega dragage carriers with "meat in the seat" to replace the independents, some allowance of those independent businessmen to become share croppers for the mega fleets by allowing them to pretend to be independent contractors driving newer trucks "leased" from the carriers that received all the EPA assistance in 'turning over" thier fleets doesn't really mean that the forced collectivization is not going to happen, it simply changes the details of that collectivization to allow the mega fleets to pass the costs of social security and workers comp off to the poor share croppers who will now owe weekly paymwnts to rent the truck they are driving from the same entity that controls thier income. Slavery in modern terms continues unabated using sleight of hand pretended independent contractor lease purchase lease back chains and whips. Will Rogers Rope! |
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